Pledge Holidays features in Nordic tourism promotion

It was first of the four workshops held recently in the Danish capital of Copenhagen providing Sri Lankan tourism partners with a platform “to make valuable business relations with Danish and Swedish tour operators”.

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China remains biggest tourism market

India Express online reports that “Sri Lanka is targeting at least 300,000 Chinese tourist arrivals by year end, as China has now become the top market accounting for the largest number of tourist arrivals.”

Business Standard reports: “Already 132,842 Chinese Tourists had arrived in the island country during the first two quarters in 2016 and the numbers are expected to increase. China has outstripped India though India is still a close second.”

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Sri Lanka malaria free, leads the world

CNN reports on how the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Sri Lanka free of malaria, the deadly disease that causes death and misery to millions throughout the tropics.

It says: “Sri Lanka’s status of ridding itself of the disease was against the odds according to some experts… But they managed to do it — and set a precedent for malaria control in other parts of the tropics.”

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Health, tourism linked in WHO session in Colombo

The 69th session of the World Health Organisation, Regional Committee for South East Asia in Colombo saw 200-250 delegates from over 15 countries show-cased Sri Lanka’s achievements in the health sector “while highlighting tourist potential”.

Health minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratna “stated that the WHO supported Sri Lanka’s efforts to improve health care. Free health service which many people enjoy was continued through the guidance and technical support from WHO”.

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Sri Lankan Buddhism ‘a gift to the world’

ColomboPage reports Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena as saying that “The biggest wealth we can give to this troubled world is the Theravada Buddhism”.

He was attending the annual religious festival of Esala Perahera in Kandy, when he said: “We have inherited high moral values that no other developed country in this world possesses, because of our proud culture which developed with the philosophy of the Buddha”.